The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is within a clash with the Associated Press and Gannett on the rights to images and narratives of their sporting events. Each entity has a income purpose. As the AP’s profits may be returned to the business to cover other costs, the known member schools of the SEC are looking to grow income for their own betterment, and Gannett is looking to grow revenue to inflate their profits.
The problem is, as discussed (here) at Editor & Publisher, is that the AP and Gannett don’t like being told what/where/how/when and just why they can, and can’t sell pictorial depictions or narrative explanations of the SEC entertainment occasions. This isn’t the first time that sports activities entertainment entities have clashed with mass media conglomerates and cooperatives over profit-making masquerading as entitlement “news coverage” of the entertainment occasions. What, though, should a professional photographer learn, or eliminate, from this clash? In the runup to this seasons’ college soccer season, The SEC has imposed new guidelines on the use of content that covering press conglomerates could make for free.
Let’s get a very important factor really clear here – the AP and Gannett (among others) are paying zero dollars to the SEC to pay these occasions, from pre-game to post-game. In an era when there was no cable television, and all sports ratings and shows came from the newspaper, all sports activities entertainment had to give a free pass to those who have been making pictures and writing tales.
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That era has ended. 2.25 Billion for whatever Television privileges CBS do not have already, for 15 years. 800 million for a 15 12 months offer. 200,000,000 per year in valuation, a lot of which is due to the SEC football valuation. Further, photographs are being limited from being sold beyond day-to-day coverage needs. Quite simply, covering mass media conglomerates can send a photographer, and offer those images to their papers, subscribers, or member papers regarding coverage of that game. However, these same conglomerates can’t cut into the control and resale options that the SEC would have of images from a particular game by selling images or stories themselves. Again Once, let’s return to the freelance photographer.
What about audio and video value? Will probably be worth more. Heck, the galleries are made by it more engaging. Oh, it certainly makes you there feel like you were! The networks generate income off the commercials, in the same way the newspapers generate income off the advertisements that are next to the sports photos. The known truth that papers got a free of charge ride because of this long is exceptional.
The SEC (and every other sports league) has endure free “news coverage” for so long as it appropriate their needs free of charge publicity. Now, they are not beholden to the AP/Gannett/et al, and press conglomerates are paying for the to distribute this content that is created at these events.